Child&#39;s toilet seat assembly



March 5, 1968 B. BENJAMIN CHILD'S TOILET SEAT ASSEMBLY 4 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed May 24, 1965 park f (Zr/er AITOFMFVJ.

March 5, 1968 B. BENJAMIN CHILD'S TOILET SEAT ASSEMBLY 4 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed May 24, 1965 ATTOFA/EVY.

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United States Patent 3,371,356 CHILDS TOILET SEAT ASSEMBLY E. BurtonBenjamin, Highland Park, Ill., assignor, by mesne assignments, to LornaIndustries, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed May 24,1965, Ser. No. 457,944 Claims. (Cl. 4-239) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREalternatively it can be quickly unclamped for storage out of sight.

This invention relates to a childs toilet seat that can be mounted on aconventional toilet seat, and more particularly to a childs toilet seatthat can be moved between a position of use and a storage positionwithout being disconnected from the toilet.

An object of this invention is to provide a childs toilet seat that isadjustable for mounting on toilets of various sizes.

Another object of this invention is a childs toilet seat that can bestored by hanging in an inoperative position along a side of the toiletbowl.

Another object of this invention is a childs toilet seat assembly havinga cover that can be folded upon itself to function as a back rest.

Another object of this invention is a childs toilet seat assembly thatcan easily be attached to the toilet bowl without interfering with thenormal operation of the toilet seat and toilet seat cover.

Other purposes will appear from time to time in the course'of theensuing specification and claims.

The invention is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in theaccompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE '1 is a perspective view showing the childs toilet seat assemblymounted on a toilet with the assembly cover in a closed position;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the childs toilet seat assembly withits cover in an open position;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the childs toilet seat assembly with itscover in an open position;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 44 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 55 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 6 is a partial sectional view through the seat assembly supportshowing the childs toilet seat in a stored position;

FIGURE 7 is a plan view of a modified form of the childs toilet seatassembly and;

FIGURE 8 is a partial sectional view taken along line 88 of FIGURE 7.

The childs toilet seat assembly of my invention is intended for use on aconventional toilet. A conventional toilet usually includes a bowl 9having a rim It a seat 11 hingedly mounted on the bowl by means of ahorizontal rod 12, and a cover 13 also hingedly mounted on this rod.

My invention includes an auxiliary or childs toilet seat 14, which maybe molded of a plastic such as polypropylene or formed from any othersuitable material, and

which is intended to rest and be supported on the toilet seat 11 when inuse. To support the childs toilet seat 14 in a level and centeredposition when in use on the toilet seat 11, a number of mounting legs15, in this instance four, are provided. These legs are formed on theunderside of the auxiliary seat 14 to extend angularly towards thecorners of the auxiliary seat and have bottom surfaces tapered togenerally follow the contour of the toilet seat. Shoes or bumpers 16 ofa non-scufling and softer material such as rubber or polyvinylchloridemay be fitted over the bottoms of the legs to engage the toilet seatsurface.

The childs toilet seat assembly of my invention may be attached to thetoilet bowl 9 by means of a support 17 that fits over the rim 10 of thetoilet bowl and may be fastened thereto by means of a clamp member 18carried by and cooperating with the support. The support may be formedas a metal extrusion of inverted channel cross-section having a topportion 19 intended to rest on the rim of the toilet bowl and dependinglegs 20 and 21 intended to straddle the rim. The clamp member mayinclude an arcuate plate 22 which is movable into contact with theoutside of the toilet rim through means of a screw 23 threaded throughan opening 24 in the outwardly positioned depending leg 21 of thesupport. The screw is equipped with a ball-shaped head 25 which extendsinto a socket 26 in the arcuate plate 22 to permit the screw to berotated relative to this plate. A knob 27 may be connected to the outerend of the screw for ease of turning.

Attachment of the auxiliary or childs toilet seat 14 to the support 17is accomplished by an overlapping connection of an arm 31 formedintegrally with the sup port and an arm 32 formed integrally with theseat. The support arm 31 is joined to the top portion 19 of the supportoutwardly of the depending leg 21 and is inclined to overlie this topportion. As shown in the drawings, the included angle between the top ofthe support and this leg is approximately 45, but this angle is merelypreferable, not critical, and the angular relation of the leg relativeto the top portion of the support may be varied from this angle.

The auxiliary seat arm 32, which may be molded integrally with the seat14, is divided into a base portion 33, which is joined to the seat, andan outer end portion 34 by a hinge 35. The hinge may be molded as asection of reduced thickness in the arm as shown in FIGURES 1 through 6,or may be of the conventional construction 35 as shown in FIGURES 7 and8 of the drawings. The use of a hinge in the seat arm permits the seat14 and arm base 33 to be folded relative to the outer end portion 34 ofthe seat arm. This outer end portion is pivotally fastened to thesupport arm so as to permit rotation of the seat and seat arm relativeto the support arm and support. A headed rivet 36 functions as thepivotal connection between the support arm 31 and the seat arm endportion 34.

To allow for vertical and lateral adjustment of the seat 14 relative tothe toilet seat 11, the outer end section 34 of the seat arm 32 isconstructed so that it can he slid along the length of the support arm31. This is accomplished by forming a longitudinally elongated slot toreceive and guide the rivet. Although the slot 37 is formed in thesupport arm and the rivet afiixed to the outer end section in theembodiment shown in the drawings, it should be realized that thisarrangement can be reversed. The length of the slot 37 and the locationof the rivet 36 in the arm portion 34 are coordinated so that when therivet is in its lowest position of adjustment relative to the slot, thehinge 35 is located just above the upper portion of the support arm 31.This permits the seat 14 and its attached handle section 33 to be freelyfolded about this hinge for movement into and out of contact with thesurface of the toilet seat 11. This spacing between the rivet and thehinge 35 must also be sufficient to allow the hinge to be positionedoutwardly of the knob 27 of the clamping screw 23 when the auxiliaryseat is in its lowered and inoperative position so that the auxiliaryseat and its base arm will be clear of this knob and will hang freely inthe manner which is most clearly shown in FIGURE 6.

The childs toilet seat assembly may also include a cover 40, which maybe hinged at the rear of the auxiliary seat 14 for folding movementbetween open and closed positions. In its closed position, the coverextends across the opening 39 in the seat 14. To enable this cover to beutilized as a backrest in its open position, it is dividedlongitudinally into two sections by a hinge 41, shown most clearly inFIGURE 4, so that it can be folded over upon itself. The hinge 41 may beformed as a section of reduced thickness molded as part of the cover.The hinge may also be molded with a memory in the closed or unfoldedposition of the cover. This hinge divides the cover into forward portion42 and a rear portion 43 which is hinged to the auxiliary seat. In theclosed position of the cover, shown in FIGURE 1, the cover portions 42and 43 extend end to end to cover the opening 39 in the seat, while inthe open position of the cover shown in FIG- URES 2, 3, 4 and 5, thecover sections extend generally at right angles to the auxiliary seat,with the front portion 42 of the seat folded over against the rearportion 43. To secure the cover in its backrest position, a headedprojection 44 is formed on the underside of the forward portion 42 ofthe cover, and this projection seats in a socket 45 formed on theunderside of the rear portion 43 of the cover. While the locations ofthe headed projection and socket could be reversed, there is anadvantage in locating the headed projection on the front portion of thecover. This permits the projection to be utilized to engage an openingor socket 46 located in the front portion of the seat 14 to act as meansto lock the cover in its closed position.

A urine deflector 47 may be hinged to the front portion of the childstoilet seat 14 to permit its swinging from the operative position ofFIGURES 2, 3 and 4 to the inoperative position shown in outline inFIGURE 3. A handle 48-for tilting the seat about the hinge 35 may alsobe formed as part of the seat. A pair of spaced openings 49 may beprovided in the seat to receive a safety strap 50 in the manner shown inFIGURE 2.

To facilitate cleaning of the childs toilet seat 14, the cover 40 isremovably hinged thereto by means of pivot pins 51 which are journaledin bearing members 52. In this embodiment the pivot pins are connectedto the cover and the bearing members are connected to the seat 14, butthese positions could be reversed. The pivot pins are formed near thefree ends of L-shaped arms 53 extending from the cover. The bearingmembers are formed on the underside of the seat to project downwardly.Slots 54 are formed in the seat to receive the arms 53 so that the pinscan be journaled in the bearing members.

The modified auxiliary seat 14 depicted in FIGURES 7 and 8 utilizes aconventional hinge 35' to connect the seat arm base portion 33' andouter end portion 34 rather than the molded hinge 35 of the preferredform of the invention. To engage the toilet seat 11 and to support themodified auxiliary seat thereon, depending riblike members are molded onthe underside of the auxiliary seat. Parts of the preferred form of theinvention which may be used with the modified auxiliary seat, i.e. thesupport and the urine deflector 47, carry the same numbers in FIGURES 7and 8 while the parts of the modified structure carry primed numbers.

The use, operation and function of my invention are as follows:

The childs toilet seat assembly shown herein is intended to be mountedon a conventional toilet, and to be movable between a position of usesuch as shown in FIGURE 1, to a storage position shown in FIGURE 6. Thisauxiliary or childs toilet seat can be mounted on a conventional toiletwithout interfering with the normal operation of the toilet seat andtoilet seat cover. The childs toilet seat is supported on the toiletbowl by means of a support member 17 which straddles the toilet bowl rimat one side of the toilet and is clamped thereto by means of anadjustable clamp 18 having a plate 22 which can be moved into contactwith the exterior of the toilet bowl rim. The use of an adjustableclamping member of this type permits the mounting of the toilet seat onvarious sized bowls. Also, the use of such a clamp permits the mountingof the seat assembly on a toilet bowl without the necessity of makingany alterations to the toilet or any of the toilet fixtures.

In the storage position shown in FIGURE 6, the auxiliary seat 14 hangsin a generally vertical position along the side of the toilet bowl whereit does not interfere with the normal use of the toilet. The auxiliaryseat can be moved from this storage position alongside the toilet bowlto a position of use on top of the toilet seat 11 simply by grasping thehandle 48 and rotating the auxiliary seat about the pivotal axis 36until it is located over the toilet seat 11. The seat 14 can then belowered onto the toilet seat 11 until the shoes 16 engage the surface ofthe toilet seat to center the auxiliary seat relative thereto.

The adaptability of the auxiliary toilet seat 14 to fit toilet seats 11of varying heights and widths is obtained through means of the hinge 35on the toilet seat arm 32, and the laterally and vertically adjustablepivot connection 36 between this arm and the support arm 31. Because thepivotal connection is movable to a limited degree vertically andlaterally relative to the toilet seat, the childs seat 14 is bothlaterally and vertically adjustable relative to the toilet seat. Thehinge connection 35 in the arm contributes to this adaptability byproviding for limited vertical adjustment of the seat 14 afterpositioning of the pivotal connection 36.

When the seat is in the position of use shown in FIG- URE 1, the covercan be folded about its transverse hinge 41 rearwardly to its back restposition shown in FIGURE 2. The cover can be locked in this back restposition by engaging the headed projection 44 with the socket 45. Thisheaded projection 44 also fits into opening 46 in the seat to lock thecover in the closed position. During folding and unfolding, the coverpivots about the axis formed by the hinge pins 51 and bearing members 52and the forward portion 42 of the cover pivots about the hinge 41.Folding and unfolding of the cover is facilitated by the opening 55 inthe forward portion 42 of the seat which functions as a handle.

The cover hinge connection also facilitates cleaning of the childstoilet seat assembly by permitting removal of the cover 40. The covercan be removed by detaching the pivot pins 51 from the bearing members52 and lifting the pivot support arms 53' through the slots 54 in thecover. Replacement is accomplished in the opposite manner.

The urine deflector 47 is also pivotally connected to the seat 14 sothat it can be folded between the open position shown in FIGURE 2 andthe closed position shown lIl outline in FIGURE 3. Of course, thisdeflector must be in the closed position before the cover can be closed.This deflector is also removable for cleaning simply by detachingitspivot pins from its bearing support members in the same manner as thepivot pins for the cover.

Many advantages of my invention stem from the construction which permitsthe seat to be mounted on a side of the toilet so that it can be storedalongside the toilet when not in use. Further advantages are obtained byconstructing the seat support mechanism so that the seat can be foldedabout an axis in the plane of the seat and can be rotated about agenerally vertical axis located at one side of the toilet.

This construction permits easy movement of the childs toilet seat fromthe operative to the storage positions. The childs toilet seat can beraised from the main toilet seat to a position on which it can berotated about the generally vertical axis by folding about the hingeaxis which is in the plane of the seat. When the childs toilet seat isrotated outwardly of the toilet, it can be suspended in a verticalposition along side of the toilet bowl by again folding it about thehinge.

I claim:

1. A childs toilet seat assembly for use in conjunction with the toiletseat of a conventional toilet, comprising (a) a support clamped to theside rim of said conventional toilet, and having an inwardly inclinedportion,

(b) a hinged arm, one section of said arm being pivoted to said inclinedportion through a point on one side of the hinge, and

(c) a unitary auxiliary toilet seat fixedly disposed on the othersection of said arm and on the other side of said hinge.

2. The article of claim 1 wherein, said support has an inverted U shapewith said inclined portion projecting upwardly therefrom and formedintegrally therewith, and said hinged arm is pivoted to said inclinedportion through a point on one side of said hinge and a slot in saidinclined portion.

3. The article of claim 2 wherein said one side of said hinge isrecessed to snugly accommodate said inclined portion when said unitaryauxiliary toilet seat is in a position resting upon the seat of theconventional toilet.

4. A childs toilet seat assembly for use on a conventional toiletincluding:

a support member adapted to fit over the rim of a toilet bowl at theside thereof and to be clamped thereto,

an inclined arm attached to said support member outwardly of the toiletbowl and extending upwardly in a direction towards the toilet bowl,

an auxiliary toilet seat adapted to rest on the toilet bowl seat andhaving an arm projecting laterally therefrom with said arm connected tothe upwardly inclined arm of the support member for rotation about anaxis generally normal to said inclined arm, and

a hinge located in said auxiliary toilet seat arm intermediate the endsthereof to permit said arm to be folded upon itself with said hingebeing spaced beyond the ends of said base arm when the seat arm isaligned longitudinally with said base arm.

5. The structure of claim 4 further characterized in that saidrotational connection between the base arm and the auxiliary toilet seatarm consists of a pivot pin fixed to one of said arms and guided in alongitudinally extending slot in the other arm.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 928,313 7/1909 Lovett 248-2261 X1,704,878 3/1929 Bell et a1. 4-239 1,972,233 9/1934 Moulder 4-239 X2,516,557 7/1950 Frazee et al. 4-239 X 2,804,630 9/1957 Gould 4-2393,178,070 4/1965 Leland 4-223 X HAROLD J. GROSS, Primary Examiner.

